Answer Book

#496

George Bernard Shaw said there are two tragedies in life; one is to want for things and the other is to get what you want.

King Midas was a very kind man who ruled his kingdom fairly, but he was not one to think very deeply about what he said. One day, while walking in his garden, he saw an elderly satyr asleep in the flowers. Taking pity on the old fellow, King Midas let him go without punishment. When the god Dionysus heard about it, he rewarded King Midas by granting him one wish. The king thought for only a second and then said I wish for everything I touch to turn to gold."

A servant brought him a book, as soon as he touched the book it tuned to gold. Another servant brought him food, as soon as he touched the food it turned to gold. He could not read anything or eat anything. The greatest tragedy was his daughter Marigold whom he loved more than anything. She came running to him and as soon as he touched her, she turned into a lifeless gold statue. Heartbroken, he sought out the Dionysus who had given him the power to turn everything to gold and Dionysus rescinded the power and everything came back as before. King Midas then realized that there are many things in life worth more than gold.

Many men spend their life and their health seeking wealth. Then, overworked, health gone, they spend their wealth trying to regain their health.

These days, almost every other advertisement on the radio or television encourages everyone to invest in gold...since Fiat paper money is almost worthless; the printing presses in Washington are printing night and day; warehouses are stacked full of paper money. But today it was announced that the National Debt is so great that only inflated dollars will suffice to repay it. It is known that the Japanese Government is experiencing extortion from Washington Treasury Officials to buy more and more of the American Debt. Now, you can understand, why America is seeking to destroy the Japanese car market (Toyota). Japans largest export is automobiles and America is now in the automobile business. But more important than our selling our cars is the selling of our debt which now is about 25 trillion dollars.

Blind and deaf Helen Keller wrote in her 1905 book, “I cannot understand why sited people cannot appreciate the beauty of the world. What I would give to see one flower, to hear one bird sing”. Many times, we are rich and do not realize it. The first 100 years of the church, there was no bible. For many years of church life, paper had not been invented and most people could not read. In today's world, a Bible is available to everyone (Holy Bible; 66 books Protestant, 73 books Catholic). I have known many church members who have sat comfortable on padded pews, who could not quote one verse of scripture from Gods inspired inerrant Word. One good Baptist member told me that “Galgotha was the Apostle who slew the disciple David”. I have visited most of the forty countries of dark Africa. I have seen families walk miles to attend a worship service under a brush arbor in the bush.

Some have said that the Garden of Eden was in the Jerusalem area, others in the area of the junction of the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers in the Iraq area. Before God breathes life into Eve, Adam had named all of the animals of the earth, including the seas. I believe the entire earth was the garden. It was a place of splendor until Satan in the form of a serpent made his appearance and brought on briars, thistles, and pain. God covered the nakedness of the first couple with the bloody skins of animals and on that side of the cross, he used the blood of animals for redemption. On this side of the cross, he has used the shed blood of his only son for our redemption.

In quantum physics, we know there are more than three dimensions. Very bright engineers have sent rockets around Gods earth and perhaps, may even have landed on the moon, but the earth, and everything that goes on here is still in the divine providence of God. Even in Jesus' time, for hundreds of years, the Parchments and Scrolls written by inspired men were not divided in the 1189 chapters of the King James Version of the Bible. The 788,000 words were not in to verses as in today's Bible. Several have taken credit for these divisions, most famous a Catholic Monk. William Tyndale, who translated the bible into English said he wanted every farm-plow-boy in England to be able to read the Bible. Tyndale was burned at the stake because he dared translate the Bible into English, but his very ashes which went into the Thames River have taken God's Word into every area of the earth. Then, as now, it is the answer book answering every question man needs to know about history, geography, health, morality, and most of all, the way, the truth, and the life (John 14:6). The entire world and everything in it is built around one life, the Alpha and the Omega (Rev. 22:13). The history of the world revolves around one race...Jewish. The rest of us, Gentiles, are only important as we are in contact with the Jew.

Scriptures are written so that children can understand, but, its words have astonished Theologians for hundreds of years. Where in the Bible do you find that anyone must understand everything written in the Bible? To know him, the power of his resurrection, the fellowship of his suffering (Phl. 3:10) is enough. I believe that 90% of faith is just raw courage. Faith in his Word is all you will ever need. I believe that faith is a verb (action based on belief sustained by confidence). I understand that faith can best be defined as one being covered in the cleft of a rock or under a mother birds wing. On the farm, I saw small chicks peep out from under the security of the mother hen. In the Kalahari Desert in Botswana using my binoculars, (I had a small amount of vision in one eye at that time), I saw high in the cliffs an eagles nest; small eaglets looking out from under the mother eagle. Small birds, all under the security of a mother. This is the faith God wants us to possess in the security of his world. Creatures protected by the creator in his marvelous creation.